Pieter de Hooch - The Bedroom [1658-60]

Pieter de Hooch - The Bedroom [1658-60], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

In the well-run Dutch household of the 17th century each day had its prescribed chore. Mondays and Tuesdays were for dusting the reception rooms and bedrooms, Wednesdays the entire house. On Thursdays floors were scrubbed and on Fridays the kitchen and cellar scoured. And every day first thing in the morning, before anyone was about, the entryway, the front stoop, and the street in front of the house were scrubbed until they were, in the words of one astonished English visitor, "clean as any chamber floor."

[Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna - Oil on canvas, 51 x 60 cm]

Johannes Vermeer - Allegory of the Catholic Faith [c.1670-72]

Johannes Vermeer - Allegory of the Catholic Faith [c.1670-72], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

One of Vermeer's most unusual pictures, this large canvas was probably commissioned by a Catholic patron. The subject was adopted from a standard handbook of iconography, Cesare Ripa's Iconologia. Vermeer interpreted Ripa's description of Faith with the "world at her feet" literally, showing a Dutch globe published in 1618. The divine world is suggested by the glass sphere hanging overhead. The painting of the Crucifixion on the wall copies a work by Jacob Jordaens. Among the several Christological symbols, the most prominent are the apple, emblem of the first sin, and the serpent (Satan) crushed by a stone (Christ, the cornerstone of the church). Dating from about 1670, the work strikes a balance between abstraction and haunting similitude.

[Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York - Oil on canvas, 114.3 x 88.9 cm]

Anton Mauve - The Return of the Flock, Laren [c.1886-87]

Anton Mauve - The Return of the Flock, Laren [c.1886-87], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Mauve (Dutch, 1838 - 1888) was a master of depicting moist, low places populated by domestic animals and their anonymous keepers. As this painting so convincingly demonstrates, his ability to control gentle, nearly monochromatic tones, while not losing a sense of either the place or the moment, puts him in direct and happy comparison with the two French artists he most admired: Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and Jean-François Millet.

[Philadelphia Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 100.2 x 161.3 cm]

Jules Adolphe Breton - Returning from the Fields [1871]

Jules Adolphe Breton - Returning from the Fields [1871], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Although often associated with the Barbizon school, Breton (French, 1827 - 1906) favoured a more idealised treatment of his subjects and a more polished style of painting. In this rural scene, probably set in the artist's native Pas-de-Calais, north of Paris, three young women return from the fields at dusk. Their idealised forms contrast markedly with the harshness of Millet's depictions of peasant life.

[Walters Art Museum, Baltimore - Oil on canvas, 69.5 x 104 cm]

Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin - Morning [1884]

Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin - Morning [1884], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Louis-Joseph-Raphaël Collin (Paris, June 17, 1850 - Brionne, 1916) was a French painter and illustrator. 

[Philadelphia Museum of Art - Oil on canvas, 150.5 x 114 cm]

Ignace Brice - The Poulterer [1827]

Ignace Brice - The Poulterer [1827], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Ignace Brice (Brussels, April 2, 1795 - Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, August 10, 1866) was a Belgian painter. He was a genre painter and portraitist, and had a great talent for drawing. His style was sober and classical and, besides David's influence, he reminds the viewer of the Port-Royal painters of the 17th century.

[Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - Oil on canvas, 99 x 124 cm]

Gerard David - The Adoration of the Kings [c.1515]

Gerard David - The Adoration of the Kings [c.1515], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

The Christ Child sits on his mother's lap within the ruins of a castle, before a townscape. The Virgin rests on a stone manger, while Joseph descends a stairway at the left. The Magi proceed to pay homage and a crowd of onlookers peer in at the right. Caspar kneels before the Virgin (the ox and the ass can be seen above his head); a little further back Melchior prepares to make his offering; and Balthazar enters the ruin from the right. In the town beyond people stand in the street and look up at the spectacle.

Gerard David was the last great 15th-century painter from Bruges working within the tradition of realism founded by van Eyck. A subtle colourist, he succeeds in creating atmosphere through his evocative landscapes. David's work suffered critical neglect for a long time, but is now highly regarded for its technical skill and gentle mysticism. He is thought to have come from Oudewater where he was probably trained by his artist father. He shared with the other artists from Bruges a concern for precise characterisation and the depiction of the minute details of objects. This makes his pictures rewarding to examine closely.

[National Gallery, London - Oil on oak, 60 x 59.2 cm]